A photographic diary of a birdwatcher. Travelling the world so you don't have to.

Wednesday, 16 January 2013

George Bush Park, Houston, Jan 2012

I was on my way to George Bush Park this morning when I
saw a Cooper’s Hawk in a tree and
jumped from the bus to get a picture. The spot on Westheimer (Google Earth ref;
29°44'11.50"N 95°37'11.81"W) proved to be quite productive with Red-tailed Hawk, Eastern Phoebe and Yellow-rumped
Warblers seen.

George Bush Park in Houston is a
large area to the west of town. I think it may have been a reservoir at some
time in its life. A large man-made bank surrounds it with a trail along the
top. Inside the raised earthwork is a forest of small trees and remnants of
ponds and marsh. The Westheimer Parkway
passes through the lower part of the park and is characterised by short grass
either side of the road.

Just inside the eastern entrance to
the park is a small lake (Google Earth ref; 29°44'4.04"N
95°39'35.46"W). A small flock of Long-billed
Dowitchers were feeding here until a couple of trout fisherman flushed
them. White Ibis fed around the
edges and in the wet grass behind. I decided to stay with the road and flushed
a Wilson’s Snipe from the wet ditch
alongside. Another was found further along and seen before it flew.

A short way up from the Lake is a
fenced dog-walking area. The line of trees around the back was quite productive
with Eastern Phoebe, Yellow-rumped Warbler and Northern Cardinal.

Across the road are the shooting
ranges. The amount of land given over to shooting indicates its popularity
here. On the lawns were plenty of Killdeer
and a flock of Western Meadowlarks.
I spent some time trying to turn them into Eastern Meadowlarks, but to no
avail.

Back on the southern side of the
parkway another small lake allows for dogs to be unleashed for training (Google
Earth ref; 29°43'22.23"N 95°40'23.64"W). This proved to be another
productive spot. Eastern Bluebirds and
a Loggerhead Shrike were seen in the
trees by the lake while Ruby-crowned
Kinglet, Field Sparrow and more
Yellow-rumped Warblers were seen along the line of trees at the back.

There was
a surprising lack of any waterbirds. The herons and egrets were seen in the ditch at the bottom of the dam wall, just before the entrance

On the return journey a flock of American Pipits were spotted from the
road and stalked across the wet ground to the south. A second larger flock
brought quite a large pipit number for the day.